PMC action against sonography centres for flouting norms limited to show-cause notices - Hindustan Times
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PMC action against sonography centres for flouting norms limited to show-cause notices

Mar 26, 2023 11:22 PM IST

Health activists claim, there is a need for strict action against violators which is missing when it comes to implementation of norms

PUNE Action against sonography centres in the city that violate norms has been slow due to the health officials’ lax attitude towards the strict implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT) and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP), claim activists.

PMC officials said the civic body recently served notices to 13 sonography centres for violating various norms. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)
PMC officials said the civic body recently served notices to 13 sonography centres for violating various norms. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

Since 2002, MTP centres in the city have gone up from 362 to 391 and there are 632 sonography centres that are registered.

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Health activists claim, there is a need for strict action against violators which is missing when it comes to implementation of norms.

Dr Abhijeet More, health activist, said, there is a need for both action and awareness when it comes to improving the sex ratio. “The sex ratio has declined alarmingly and there is no rigorous campaign that PMC seems to have undertaken. The civic body is yet to realise the seriousness of the issue,” he said.

“For genuine reasons, simple punishment and warning are fine. But when the case is evident in cases of sex determination or illegal abortion taking a soft approach in such cases is wrong. There needs to be stringent punishment in such cases,” said Dr More.

PMC officials said the civic body recently served notices to 13 sonography centres for violating various norms.

“We recently issued notices to 13 sonography centres in the city for violation of the PCPNDT Act. These centres have failed to submit the mandatory monthly report to the civic body. Some of them even have minor violations of incomplete documents, maintaining records, and form F sans signature. We have asked the centre’s explanation for the failure,” said, Dr Suryakant Devkar, assistant health officer of PMC.

Dr Bhagwan Pawar, health officer of PMC, assured to look into the issue and take corrective measures to improve the city’s sex ratio.

“I will discuss this with the team and ask them to keep track of all the pregnant women in the city area who get the ultrasound done and later go missing. The missing cases of expecting mothers will be tracked down. The team will be asked to conduct surprise visits at the sonography centres. Also, the number of sting operations with decoy will be increased,” he said.

In May 2022, PMC suspended the licences of 46 sonography centres for periods ranging from 24 hours to eight days for violation of the PCPNDT Act.

“The only action PMC has taken in the last two to three years has been to temporarily seal the machines. The appropriate authority also has power in such a situation to file parallel cases against the centre for violation of PCPNDT Act,” said Sharad Shetty, health activist.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that the natural sex ratio at birth is around 105 males for every 100 females, which translates to about 952 females for every 1,000 males.

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